INDIANAPOLIS – Today, Senate Bill (SB) 371 passed the Indiana House Public Policy Committee by a vote of 8-5. SB 371 introduces health and safety standards into the chemical abortion industry that currently lacks state oversight.

SB 371 requires that chemical abortion facilities meet the same licensing requirements that other abortion facilities are subject to. The requirements deal with reporting standards, physician oversight, cleanliness standards and building accessibility.

When chemical abortion drugs are used up to nine weeks of pregnancy, past the Food and Drug Administration’s seven-week guideline, complication rates drastically rise. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, the failure rate of the chemical abortion drug is 8 percent at 7 weeks, but the failure rises to 23 percent at 9 weeks. When the abortion is incomplete, facilities needs to be prepared to deal with a woman experiencing uncontrollable bleeding, infection or other potential side effects of the abortion drug. The licensing requirements in SB 371 will establish that chemical abortion facilities maintain an environment appropriate for dealing with these conditions.

During the committee hearing, SB 371 was amended to include informed consent provisions, change the date by which facilities must have licensing, remove ultrasound requirements and prohibit the Indiana State Department of Health from grandfathering facilities that were not given grandfathered status in previous laws.

“We applaud the House Public Policy Committee for prioritizing women’s health in Indiana,” said Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. “While not all the amendments that passed were supported by Indiana Right to Life, we’re pleased that SB 371 brings crucial oversight to the chemical abortion industry. SB 371 strengthens current abortion law in Indiana by not allowing any abortion facility to operate without oversight.”

SB 371, was authored by Sen. Travis Holdman (District 19) in the Senate and it passed on Feb. 26, by a vote of 33 to 16. Reps. Sharon Negele (District 13), Bob Morris (District 84) and Matthew Lehman (District 79) are sponsors of SB 371 in the Indiana House. With today’s committee passage, SB 371 can now advance to a vote in the Indiana House.

Indiana Right to Life’s mission is to protect the right to life, especially of unborn children, through positive education, compassionate advocacy and promotion of healthy alternatives to abortion.

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Posted by Becky Rogness | Filed Under News | Comments Off on Chemical Abortion Bill Passes House Public Policy Committee

In 2000, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the chemical abortion pill, often called RU-486 or Mifeprex, for U.S. use. Like other prescription drugs, the FDA issued important health and safety information for its use.

The FDA gives a specific timeframe for using Mifeprex:

FDA:
Mifeprex is used, together with another medication called misoprostol, to end an early pregnancy (within 49 days of the start of a woman’s last menstrual period).

However, abortion providers are using Mifeprex well-past 49 days of pregnancy. Here’s what the National Abortion Federation and Planned Parenthood say on their websites:

National Abortion Federation:
Depending on the prescribing physician’s protocols, mifepristone and misoprostol can be used for early abortion up to 63 days after the start of the last menstrual period.

Planned Parenthood:
The abortion pill is a medicine that ends an early pregnancy. In general, it can be used up to 63 days — 9 weeks — after the first day of a woman’s last period.

Using a drug “off-label,” or outside of the FDA guidelines isn’t illegal. But, of course it carries risks.

Results of an American clinical trial for chemical abortion were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers found that Mifeprex had a:

Failure rate of 8% of pregnancies at 49 days

Failure rate of 17% of pregnancies at 56 days

Failure rate of 23% of pregnancies at 63 days

This means that when abortions are done up to 63 days – like Planned Parenthood does – nearly 1 in 4 women have to return to the abortion facility because parts of the baby’s baby and/or supportive tissue remain in the uterus, which can quickly lead to infection. Because of this high complication rate, abortion facilities need to have health and safety standards in place to take care of women returning to their facility.

If a woman returns with an incomplete abortion or side effects of Mifeprex – ongoing vaginal bleeding, diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting – the facility needs to care for the woman and be accessible in the unfortunate case of medical emergency.

Senate Bill 371, a bill that passed the Indiana Senate in February and is now before the Indiana House, addresses the health and safety standards necessary for caring for a woman who is ill because of Mifeprex. It requires abortion centers have sterile instruments, appropriately credentialed staff and clean facilities. If the woman’s condition can’t be taken care at the facility and an ambulance needs to be called, then the facility has to have hallways wide enough to accommodate emergency crews and their equipment for transporting the woman.

SB 371 ensures women’s health won’t be jeopardized by a facility that simply isn’t up to par. And because abortion providers are doing chemical abortions at a point in pregnancies where 23% of women have complications, abortion facilities need to be ready to care for them with common sense health and safety standards that we expect in Indiana.

Posted by Becky Rogness | Filed Under Blog | Comments Off on Using the Chemical Abortion Pill Off-label Results in Higher Complication Rates

IPFW Women’s Studies Program Focuses on Tragic Issue rather Than Women’s Achievements

FORT WAYNE, IND. – Today, representatives from Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) Students for Life, Allen County Right to Life and Indiana Right to Life released the following statement denouncing the IPFW Women’s Studies Program’s month-long celebration of abortion to correspond with Women’s History Month.

“As a student at IPFW, and as a woman, I am deeply offended that the Women’s Studies Program sees abortion as the appropriate topic to celebrate during Women’s History Month,” stated Michelle Landrigan, President of IPFW Students for Life. “The Women’s Studies Program could have easily found prominent accomplishments of women to celebrate. Modern history alone has given us female trailblazers like suffragist Susan B. Anthony, aviator Amelia Earhart, civil rights activist Rosa Parks and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, just to name a few. Women’s History Month is about paying tribute to the countless women who have made our world a better place, and should not be twisted to celebrate a procedure that ends a human life.”

“Women deserve better than abortion,” said Cathie Humbarger, Executive Director of Allen County Right to Life. “Abortion damages women emotionally and physically. Abortion is labeled as a simple ‘fix’ but the pain of abortion effects women for decades. A 2011 study in the British Journal of Psychiatry found post-abortive women were nearly twice as likely to deal with mental health problems compared to other women. Furthermore, abortion targets preborn girls through gendercide. It’s estimated that 200 million women are missing globally due to sex-selective abortion. Abortion is not something to celebrate at IPFW or anywhere.”

“A celebration of abortion on a college campus tries to normalize abortion, but abortion is anything but normal” stated Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. “Women in crisis pregnancies need help and support rather than pressure to choose abortion and end the child’s life. A month-long celebration of abortion merely attempts to mask the pain of abortion and encourages women to embrace the tragic practice of abortion.”

The IPFW Women’s Studies Program scheduled five events centered on abortion from March 4 through April 1, 2013. A flyer for the event claims additional support from Indiana Purdue Student Government Association (IPSGA), Campus Feminists in Solidarity, Triota, the Departments of History and Political Science and the Center for Women and Returning Adults.

IPFW Students for Life is dedicated to promoting the value of life at IPFW by educating students about abortion, euthanasia and embryonic stem cell research. IPFW Students for Life advocates alternatives to abortion and assists women who need help carrying their child or healing after an abortion.Allen County Right to Life, based in Fort Wayne, Ind., operates out of a common concern for the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.Indiana Right to Life’s mission is to protect the right to life, especially of unborn children, through positive education, compassionate advocacy and promotion of healthy alternatives to abortion.

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Posted by Becky Rogness | Filed Under News | Comments Off on Statement Denouncing Celebration of Abortion at IPFW during Women’s History Month

Indiana Right to Life in the Indianapolis Star Letter to the Editor Response by Communications Director Becky Rogness Monday, March 11, 2013 www.indystar.com

“I experienced the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. The experience wasn’t just a heavy period. I was bleeding like I never knew possible. And the cramps were not just severe; I thought I was dying because they were so intense.”

These chilling words from a women who took an abortion-inducing drug, RU-486, were shared at a February Indiana Senate hearing. The hearing was on Senate Bill 371, a bill on abortion-inducing drugs.

The Food and Drug Administration approved RU-486 for U.S. use in 2000. Unlike taking a Tylenol for a simple backache, RU-486 is a serious drug with serious risks.

Through April 2011, the FDA lists deaths from RU-486 in the double digits, hospitalizations in triple digits and total adverse cases in the thousands.

Since 2000, abortion providers have lined up to offer chemical abortions. Several facilities in Indiana do both chemical and surgical abortions. However, Planned Parenthood in Lafayette is the one facility that solely does chemical abortions.

Current Indiana law has allowed this site to perform abortions without licensure or inspection.